“The purpose of life is a life of purpose”- Robert Byrne
We’re always encouraged to go out there and try something new, but how many of us actually step out of our comfort zone and do it? This past fall semester and winter break, I decided to grab life by the horns and go for something challenging yet rewarding- I joined GMB.
GMB (Global Medical Brigades @ Berkeley) is a student lead, student driven chapter of the international organization Global Brigades. At Berkeley, GMB offers a DeCal in conjunction with a trip to Honduras to provide free medical care. Grabbing that flyer on Sproul and attending the info session have been my best decisions as a Berkeley student yet.
I’ve been a traveler, adventurer, and explorer all my life, but it wasn’t until January 3, 2012 that I was finally able to combine my passion for places and for people. On a cruise a few summers ago, I had the luxury of visiting the lush tropical island off of the Central American coast called Roatan, Honduras. My vacation in Central America was such a delight full of fun, food, and funky souvenirs, but there was an element missing in that experience: culture. Visiting tourist towns, purchasing tourist trinkets, and eating at tourist traps, just didn’t satisfy my adventurous side. I desired culture and reality. My first visit to Honduras was a vacation so my experience only showed me luxury. The more I learned about Honduras, the more I realized how sheltered my trip had been. Honduras is the third poorest nation in the western hemisphere with over half it’s population living below the poverty line. Political instability and corruption have rendered many government sponsored programs useless. Most rural Hondurans lack access to clean water and the average doctor-to-patient ratio is 1:1700. Even with the lack of sanitary water, proper nutrition, and health care, the leading cause of death in Honduras is violence. These unsettling facts motivated me to take action and help alleviate the lack of basic health care. GMB provided me the opportunity to travel back to Honduras to finally meet and help the people of such a beautiful country. I felt a need to return and work for them this time. Zip-lining through the rainforest was nice, but teaching children to brush their teeth was better.
The unity and balance of our group was truly impressive. But the most interesting and rewarding part was the interactions we all had with the people of San Diego, Honduras. The first two days of the trip were mainly focused on med packing, pick up soccer, and heavy eating. Seems like an easy enough task, but man was it time consuming. Divided into small groups, we sorted, counted and packed enough medicine for a village. One by one counting out 50 pound vitamin bags into 90 tablet prescription sandwich bags was a meticulous yet entertaining task. A rare and insightful opportunity to realize what being a pharmacist truly entails. We had all fundraised and received many donations to accumulate toothpaste, toothbrushes, hydrocortisone, amoxicillin, robitussin, acetaminophen, pre-natal vitamins, tums, and everything else to complete our traveling pharmacy.
It took a semesters worth of House of Curries fundraisers, flyering on Sproul, Wednesday 6-8pm meetings, amazingly generous contributions, a behind the scenes board, and way too many cheesy sticks to finally make it all happen. It sort of felt like 6th grade camp getting chaperoned by a brigade leader and riding shoulder to shoulder in a bus winding through rural roads. All of us admit to not having known each others names after a whole semester of class, but fast friends we became. There’s something so beautiful about an adventure that bonds people for life, getting out of your comfort zone, whether that means out of your friend group in Berkeley, or out of America. We all realized that we now depended on each other to make it all happen and we became a close, caring, and communicative family. Those that were proficient in Spanish translated and aided those who stumbled over “Como estas?” Students knew their strengths and worked with their skills to benefit the team.
Visiting the community for the first day was only slightly nerve-racking but overwhelmingly exciting. I started off by working the children’s charla that a few of us brigaders had planned in order to educate the children. It was so hilarious trying to teach thirty kids to brush their teeth through demonstrating and singing “me cepillo los dientes, cada dia dos veces” to the tune of twinkle twinkle little star. I loved teaching the children about personal hygiene through skits and song because we communicated so well regardless of the language barrier. Each activity and each day kept getting more interactive and more rewarding. From watching molar extractions and fillings to aiding in pap smears, it was such a fascinating process to be a part of. The dentist and doctors were patient and caring and they sparked my desire to pursue medicine. Many of the villagers of San Diego had such simple needs like vitamins, pain killers, and tums. What is so easily used and abused here is truly a rare gift elsewhere. It was amazing to help in such a small and simple way because the outcome was more than we could have imagined. In three days thirty Cal students, three doctors, two residents, and two dentists served 800 patients. Now that’s astounding.
I could have never dreamed of being a part of an organization that was so cohesive, unified and productive. Together each and every one of us contributed to the lives of 800 Hondurans. It’s a good feeling and I encourage everyone to search through the many programs that Cal has to offer so that you too can make a difference. In all of my travels and all of my experiences, nothing has ever compared to the joy and beauty of hard work to provide healthy living for someone in need. My new life motto that the wonderful people of Honduras, the many staff of Global Brigades, and my fellow Cal brigaders taught me: “When you run alone, you run fast. When you run together, you run far.” -Zambian proverb.
Check out more of Alex’s photos on our photoblog!